The Wayfinders
A year-long mentorship program for scholar-activists
to build liberatory bodies of work
while centering rest and joy.
We start January 10, 2023.
scholar-activist
/ ˈskä-lər ak-ti-vist /
noun
One working within or beyond academia who bears witness to injustice and is committed to dismantling interlocking systems of oppression in our world.
We are scholar-activists and we create knowledge that transforms the world.
But the very oppressive systems we seek to dismantle are killing us.
Academia is structured through the imperialist white supremacist capitalist cis-heteropatriarchy. It dehumanizes us — denying our knowledge, truth, rest, and joy — while maintaining unsustainable cultures of individualism, violence, and overwork.
In the words of Audre Lorde,
“We were never meant to survive.”
Wayfinders is my vision for our survival, solidarity, and sovereignty.

My mentorship program supports scholar-activists to generate liberatory bodies of knowledge and create social change.
It does this via a revolutionary feminist framework through which we decolonize our minds, develop solidaristic connections, and nurture radical self-care.
I wish for Wayfinders to serve as your place to be seen, to be heard, and to heal.
Let’s build our community and raise our collective power.
You do not have to compromise your principles, extinguish your health, or chase white able-bodied masculinist ideals.
Through our work together, you’ll follow your own North Star to develop an exquisitely meaningful body of work.
I’ll support you to bring forth any project you desire, whether that’s a book, a set of journal articles, or even a blog.
You’ll never hear me demand that you lean in, build resilience, or trade sleep for work.
We’re not here to play the game. We’re here to change the world.
The Program
Over our 12 months together we will meet across monthly one-on-one sessions and weekly intimate group sessions via Zoom.
I’ll support you to develop a defined body of work (whether that be a book, a set of journal articles, or anything else you desire).
We’ll develop a tailor-made plan to achieve your goals without sacrificing your body, heart, and soul at the altar of neoliberal capitalism.

JANUARY
Stella Polaris
We mark you joining the program with a 90-minute radical dreaming session where we’ll crystallize your vision for your scholar-activism and pinpoint the body of work you’ll be developing over our year together.
FEBRUARY
Care
We will begin decolonizing our minds and interrogate how cultures of oppression have shaped our work and our lives. We’ll build a plan for your liberatory project built around the non-negotiables of your rest and joy.
MARCH
Creation
We will determine and defend your tiger time, reading time, and wild idling time and develop a concrete creation plan for your desired body of work.
APRIL
Grace
This season is a reminder to be kind to yourself. We will nurture our hearts, minds, bodies, and spirits and share strategies for surviving difficult times.
MAY
Flow
This month will be all about kindling passion in our work and finding flow in creation.
JUNE
Survival
Halfway through our voyage, let’s explore how to stay the course. We will discuss exploitation, harassment, and bullying in academia and how you may shield yourself against potential backlash to your scholarly activism.
Let us cast aside their oppressive ideologies and find our own way to truth.
JULY — NOVEMBER
Generation
With the intellectual, analytical, and psychoemotional resources we have developed in collective, we wholeheartedly dive into the work. Over these five months, we will focus on generating our bodies of work, supported with virtual writing retreats and co-working sessions. We maintain our regular group mentorship meetings to address anything and everything that surfaces for you.
DECEMBER
Home
Goodbyes are never easy. We will celebrate our time together with a closing ritual to envision your path ahead beyond our year together.
Here is everything you’ll receive…

This program is for…
01.
Academics driven by a vision for social justice who desire support in navigating the pitfalls of the Ivory Tower.
02.
Artists, writers, activists, healers, and leaders from all walks of life who seek to bring forth liberatory knowledge and remake the world.
03.
Scholar-activists with marginalized identities for whom the neoliberal discourse of ‘pulling yourself up by the bootstraps’ is particularly hollow.
04.
Those who yearn to find connection and purpose in their work, who wish for more than climbing the career ladder as quickly as possible.
I’m Dr Helena Liu (she/her)
I write and live on the unceded land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, colonized as Sydney, Australia.
I was awarded my PhD in 2012 from the University of Sydney. My research critiques how gender, race, and class sustain our enduring romance with leadership. Over my career, I’ve published one book, 28 journal articles, 8 book chapters, and counting.
As your thought partner, I understand the value of intellectual rigor, editorial discernment, and intersectional feminist ethico-politics, and I’ll support you to cultivate all three in your work.
I’ll be a friend and confidante who deeply desires your survival and success, helping you navigate the pitfalls and challenges within the white patriarchal academy.

Apply
The next cohort for Wayfinders will begin on January 10, 2023 with a commitment of US $1,200 per month for 12 months or $14,440 for the full year.
If you’re interested in being a part of the collective and would like to learn more, please book a connection call with me to see if we would be a good fit.
From my heart, I thank you for your interest in working together.